It was 4 a.m. when Donna Hopper awoke to a stranger attempting to enter her home. When she refused to open the door, the man announced, “I’m coming in!” Hopper wasn’t sure what to do. “That’s when it came to me—I had a gun,” she recalled. Hopper had purchased a .38-cal. revolver just months prior for safety following the death of her husband. She retrieved the gun just in time as the burglar began prying open the window. That’s when she heard the voice of her father, a longtime police officer, in her head: Two hands, Donna. Keep your elbows straight. She opened fire and connected with the burglar on the third shot. The next day she returned to the gun store where she purchased her firearm to buy a cleaning kit. Shoppers praised her actions. “They all said, ‘Thank you. You’re a brave woman,’” noted Hopper. “I said, ‘No, I’m a scared old woman who just happened to have a gun.’” (The Record Searchlight, Redding, CA, 10/23/11)

The Armed Citizen Extra
(The following account did not appear in the print version of American Rifleman.)

Ater having his home burglarized several times in previous weeks, a Louisiana homeowner was prepared when he heard someone forcing their way into his house one evening. The homeowner retrieved his .38-cal. pistol, faced the intruder and—fearing for his life—fired a shot, striking the man. After receiving medical attention, the intruder was arrested. (The Rayne Indepenent, Rayne, LA, 05/27/10)

From The Armed Citizen Archive
February 1977: When two armed men bent on robbery strolled into R.M. Coulon's New Orleans La., pharmacy, Coulon pulled a cal. .38 revolver, shot one robber and sent the other running straight into the hands of detectives who had been following the pair. (The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, La.)